Global food security crisis - WHO response

Key facts WHO/M. Kokic An estimated 3.5 million people die annually from malnutrition, a number that is expected to rise due to the ongoing food crisis. 21 countries already have very high levels of acute and chronic undernutrition. Poor people spend over half their disposable income on food, depleting household resources for health. The inability to afford nutritious food forces many poorer people to have a less nutritious, unbalanced diet. Less healthy diets will affect child growth and impair the micronutrition status of all age groups. Long-term malnutrition impacts of the crisis will include impaired mental development, reduced work productivity, and higher rates of chronic disease.

The global food security crisis jeopardizes the lives of millions of people in vulnerable communities, particularly in Africa where poverty, malnutrition and death from hunger are rife. The combined effect of spiralling food prices and a lack of health care could be catastrophic for the poor. The crisis could delay the attainment of several health-related Millennium Development Goals (1, 4, 5 and 6).

More about the food crisis

• Before the current crisis, there were about 1 billion undernourished people. This number is escalating.
• The poorest households will be most affected. Households reduce their food expenditures by 0.75% for every 1% increase in food prices. This therefore limits the ability of many households to purchase healthy food.
• Higher food prices will affect the ability of the poorest people to access basic health services.
• There are 21 countries where high levels of acute malnutrition (wasting of more than 10%) and chronic malnutrition (stunting more than 40%) already exist.

Health implications

There are early signs that the crisis will exacerbate malnutrition rates worldwide by forcing many poor people to have a less nutritious, unbalanced diet. People in countries who are dependent on food imports are likely to eat fewer meals. This could cause a range of negative health conditions, including:

• higher disease and death rates for mothers and children in the short term, and impaired mental development, diminished learning ability, reduced work productivity, and more chronic disease in the longer term;
• more wasting (low weight for height) among young children;
• more micronutrient deficiencies (e.g. a lack of vitamin A or zinc), especially among women and children;
• higher threat of infectious diseases, including more severe cases of diarrhoeal diseases and respiratory illnesses among children;
• more children born with low birth weights;
• higher death rates among newborns and children aged under five;
• more challenges for people living with tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, due to reduced access to food, and less household resources for health care and medication.

WHO response

WHO is collaborating with key UN agencies and providing health inputs to the UN Secretary-General's High Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis.

WHO has finalized a broad plan of action to respond to the health challenges posed by the crisis. Priorities include:

• underscoring the human dimension of the food crisis throughout interventions;
• monitoring impacts on nutrition, health and poverty;
• ensuring that the most vulnerable groups are helped, protected and granted food and nutrition security;
• providing health and nutrition assistance;
• preventing the loss of health progress in affected areas;
• linking programme responses to the food crisis to long-term food and nutrition policies.

Priority interventions include:

• supporting vulnerable groups to access a healthy food basket;
• community nutrition interventions, particularly for infants, young children and their mothers;
• capacity building of health staff involved in programme operations;
• support for patients affected by TB and HIV-AIDS.

Read more about WHO's global health response

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